It all begins.
We just hosted our first Pacific Crest Trail hiker of this season. Katie is hiking the PCT section between Hiker Town at Hwy. 138 to Kennedy Meadows during her Spring break. It was great fun talking gear, water reports, trail, and the cello. She is a professional cellist and was kind enough to snag my cello out of hiding and play for us. Due to water shortage, Katie left Hiker Town hauling 12 liters of water, yes 12 liters and was ready to do the same again as I bid her good-bye.
Little did I know that just a few hours later our area would be hit with wind, rain, fog, and cold. The PCT can quickly become unpredictable, unforgiving, and dangerous. I can’t wait to hear her stories after finishing this section. Katie blogs at A Skirt in the Dirt.
PCT hikers out there…Katie is updating the latest water information on the Pacific Crest Trail Water Report. This section of the PCT is historically one of the driest, but this year it is especially dangerous. The drought year has depleted the springs and Warner Springs Monty has reported that the important water caches at Kelso Valley Road and Bird Spring Pass will not be stocked this year.
Today I took advantage of our very rare rain storm and headed out with my Chrome Dome umbrella. It kept me and my pack dry and I was able to take pics without getting my camera wet. Nice. Here is my view while taking a walk in the rain.
Hey, Rockin’! The pictures are great- I especially like the one of me walking away. I don’t get that view much! Loved meeting you in March & can’t wait to hear all about your upcoming adventures. Thanks for the wonderful Tehachapi hospitality! ~Katie
Hey Katie, It was great to be a small part of your adventure. Let us know if you need anything else as you most likely will be taking off from here again. 🙂
Better weather next time.
It is fun to see you wearing the whistle my SAR friend invented. I forwarded the photo to him at his Bend, OR home.
Hamburger Helper
Hey HH! Glad to hear from you. I am so flattered you thought Katie (who is in her twenties) was me. She does have similar clothing. Hard to tell in all the hiker garb.
UGH 12 liters, that sounds miserable, and yet she looks so happy and light 🙂
When I started packing, I was carrying 38lbs and that felt miserable. I truly can’t imagine anything at 50+.
I’m very concerned for the thrus carrying the packs designed for 30lbs or less. They are going to be in real trouble.
I know … serious weight. Personally I couldn’t do it. I would become one with the dirt.
You are so right, the lightweight packs are not designed for that kind of weight. Good point.
whoa nelly belle, that’s 24lbs (12kg) of water!
Hard for me to even wrap my head around it.
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I love the from under the umbrella shot. Does it feel stable as you walk?
It is well balanced, just be sure and slide your wrist through the loop or it might blow away in a big gust. Other than that I love hiking with it.
Cool blog post! The photos of your local hike look pretty awesome as well. I definitely would not want to be on a thru this year with such low rain levels and following on several rather low rain years as well. It will be tough. Carrying all that water would spoil it for me. “I can’t imagine carrying 54.5 pounds ever”. Ditto. At least not since the 1970s anyway!
I remember leaving Tehchapi Pass in ’07 with 63 lbs on my back, including 2.75 qt h20 (22 lb) & 10 dys of food (abt 15 lb prob) to get to Kennedy Meadows. As I was sectioning, way ahead of the pack, there was no early water report for Golden Oaks Spring (I think it was.), so the closest sure water was 38 miles away–2.5 dys for me. Less than 10 mi in I met southbound Starman, who said there was plenty of h2o at Golden Oaks. Now, 7 yr later, my pack wt for the same situation would be 54.5, a base pk wt of 20 lb (which includes a compact 35 mm digital camera). Ah the memories…
Hello Trekker. I love that you shared this. Remembering… certainly makes us appreciate how gear and spread of knowledge has evolved. Water weighs a ton…I can’t imagine carrying 54.5 pounds ever. Thank you Starman!